Tibetan Plateau climate dynamics: recent research progress and outlook

Abstract

This paper reviews progress in the study of Tibetan Plateau (TP) climate dynamics over the past decade. Several theoretical frameworks, including thermal adaptation and the TP sensible heat (SH) driving air-pump, have been developed to identify the mechanisms responsible for the circulation anomaly produced by thermal forcing of the TP. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the thermal effects of large-scale orography, including the Tibetan and Iranian Plateaus (TIP), are crucial for the formation of the East Asian and South Asian summer monsoons (SASM) because the surface SH of the TIP is the major driver of the water vapor transport required for the genesis of the north branch of the SASM. The large-scale orography of the TP affects the Asian climate through thermal forcing in spring and summer, and mechanical forcing in winter. The TP forcing can also influence the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) onset over the Bay of Bengal (BOB) by enhancing the BOB warm pool at the surface and by modulating the South Asian High (SAH) in the upper troposphere. On intra-seasonal timescales, the TP thermal forcing significantly modulates spring rainfall in southern China and generates the biweekly oscillation of the SAH in summer. Despite climate warming, the atmospheric heat source over the TP, particularly the spring SH, exhibits a clear weakening trend from the 1980s to 2000s. This weakening of the spring SH contributed to the anomalous ‘dry in the north’ and ‘wet in the south’ rainfall pattern observed over East China. Also discussed are challenges to further understanding the mechanism of TP forcing on the multi-scale variability of the ASM.

Climatic and associated cryospheric, biospheric, and hydrological changes on the Tibetan Plateau: a review

“…For instance, the intensity, amount, duration, and phase of precipitation, alongside other characteristics such as its spatial, temporal, and elevational distribution and seasonality, control the development and formation of seasonal snowpack, glacier accretion, watershed storage conditions, soil moisture, and eventually runoff, as hydrological response. This is particularly important for the vulnerable region in the TP under the background of climate warming, which illustrates strong connections between the cryosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere (Wu et al ., ; Dong et al ., ). TP climate is categorized by wet and humid summers with cool and dry winters.…”

A Simplified Algorithm to Estimate Latent Heating Rate Using Vertical Rainfall Profiles Over the Tibetan Plateau

“…On the windward side of the mountain (Figure b), the horizontal south wind at low level was blocked by the hill. There were significant convections, might be caused by mechanical lifting and surface sensible heating of the sloping surface (Wu et al, ), in the middle of the slope. The associated LH mod showed negative cooling in the area with weakened horizontal wind and strong heating in the convection core and heating over 6‐km altitude (Figure f).…”

Possible impact of the diabatic heating over the Indian subcontinent on heat waves in South Korea

“…Thus far, many studies have focused on the roles of tropical forcings in heat waves of East Asia rather than on west–east teleconnections (Nitta, ; Kosaka and Nakamura, ; Wu et al ., ; ). Many studies have investigated how Tibetan Plateau (TP) warming has influenced the summer monsoon rainfall during the East Asian and Indian summer monsoons (ISMs) through various forcings (Li and Yanai, ; Wu and Zhang, ; Lau et al ., ; Wang et al ., ; Seol and Hong, ; Boos and Kuang, ; Lau et al ., ; Song et al ., ; Liu et al ., ; Watanabe and Yamazaki, ; Wu et al ., ; ; Boos and Kuang, ; Rajagopalan and Molnar, ; Wu et al ., ; ; Kim et al ., ; Liu et al ., ). For example, Wang et al .…”